TomVH: OL Caleb Stacey Offered While Taking in Michigan

Ohio offensive lineman Caleb Stacey (6'4", 275 lbs) made a trip up to Ann Arbor on Thursday with his head coach Kurry Commins. The guard was hoping for a Michigan offer and came away with just that. This was the first time for both he and his coach to take a tour of Michigan's facilities, and both were impressed with what they saw. "It was an outstanding trip. First class all the way, first class facilities, and the people I came in contact with were overwhelmingly amazing," said Coach Commins.

The Oak Hills coach wasn't familiar with Ann Arbor, but there were some familiar faces inside Schembechler hall. "I have a really good relationship with Coach Hoke and Coach Smith, and some members of his staff," Coach Commins said. "I had talked to them about Caleb back when they were at San Diego State. When they moved to Michigan we got them Caleb's film immediately and have been in contact ever since."

That relationship that has already been formed between the coaches will definitely help with Michigan's pursuit of Caleb Stacey. "It's definitely going to play into it. We develop relationships with our players the same way Coach Hoke does. The fact that I think so highly of Coach Hoke helps with how Caleb sees him, too," he said. That won't be the only factor into Caleb's recruitment, but it definitely helps to speed up the relationship forming process.

Caleb reflected those sentiments of his coach and saw what his head coach had told him of the Michigan staff. "[Coach Commins] speaks very highly of Coach Hoke. They both preach the same thing about becoming a better person, and being better in the classroom," said Caleb. "I took Coach Commins word on who they were up there and it was exactly that."

Since it was their first time on campus, Stacey and his coach made sure to check out all aspects of Ann Arbor. "We drove around campus and got a feel for it. It was a good day to go up since it's St. Patrick's day, all the students were outside hanging out," said Stacey. "I got to see the strength coach and basically learn about the tradition at Michigan."

As it usually is, the Big House was a main feature of the visit and it was something that stuck out for Caleb from his trip. "The stadium speaks for itself. I got to go in to the biggest stadium in the country. It's breathtaking to imagine yourself playing in there in front of that many people," he said.

Outside of the stadium it was the people and coaches that made the biggest impact on Caleb. "The tradition up there is great. I definitely felt the tradition from the coaches. They all preach Michigan and that was something that I was really looking for," said Caleb. "The way they have produced offensive linemen and now they're going to let the linemen up front go after it, it really gives you goose bumps."

The visit was described as a great trip by both Caleb and his coach, but he's not ready to name any leaders. Their was also no clear top school going into this process, but Caleb did say this was a big offer for him. "I talked to my coach a few days ago and he asked me what would be an offer that I would really want and I said Michigan so this was pretty big," said Caleb. Stacey plans on taking a trip to West Virginia next and then potentially will come up with a top school list to narrow things down from there. This visit definitely helped Michigan move themselves into position with Stacey.

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All the recruits seem to be speak glowingly of Hoke in every interview I've read. Not that recruits didn't like RR, but it's just nice to have my beliefs on Coach Hoke affirmed. Just waiting for that first domino to fall in recruiting.

Tom, I think you need a catchphrase like Sam has when you know something that you can't explicitly share with us, e.g. "I heavily sense deep within my cerebral cortex that we'll hear something tomorrow" or "There's a mighty twitch way down in my heart cockles telling me this guy could commit"

If he wants to know what the game day atmosphere is like, he definitely just got a taste as frat row was rocking yesterday. It made me really glad I'm an old, lame grad student as those kids looked rocked and it wasn't even 5 in the evening yet.

Caleb seems like a good bet - I wonder what his final offer list is going to look like. Michigan is in good position so far it looks like. It's hard to form an opinion without seeing film. I don't see any links - anyone else see any?

It's interesting when a coach visits with a player instead of family or friends. It seems to come in all flavors.

I'm wondering if the offers are going to taper now that spring is here. It seems like they just keep coming in. I'm curious if we are going to get a visit from McGowan. He is the only recruit listed with a 1000lb squat. That seems unreal. MSU just offered - but ND did not as yet despite a visit.

So much goes on behind the scenes here. I'm curious to see the first commits and the quality of offers going forward. So far the staff has been aiming pretty high. I need to be patient but the anxiety of our OL and DL situation is pretty hard to downplay.